Portfolio Company News
Axiom
NASA, companies reject concerns over commercial space station development schedules
NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations (CLD), which supports the development of commercial space stations, anticipates that these new stations will be ready in the late 2020s prior to the retirement of the ISS in 2030 despite concerns raised by watchdogs. Axiom’s Executive VP of In-Space Solutions, Christian Maender, said work on the first two modules are on schedule and the first module is set to be launched in late 2024 during a panel at the ISS R&D Conference.
NASA revises requirements for ISS private astronaut missions
NASA is currently changing its requirements for future private astronaut missions to the ISS following the first private mission led by Axiom Space’s Ax-1 flight in April. In their procurement notice posted on Aug 1st, some requirements NASA outlined include: all missions have “a former flown NASA government astronaut” as a commander; research plans be submitted 12 months in advance in order to review and certify payloads; they have a “mission specific communications plan” outlining media and commercial activities; and “arrival to the spaceflight environment requires adaptation time for each individual; therefore, NASA is requiring additional time for microgravity adaptation and handover activities prior to the execution of the main mission activities. Axiom is also putting together its own “lessons learned” processes following Ax-1 and ahead of Ax-2.
General Space News
NASA and Roscosmos officials restate intent to operate ISS after 2024
“Perhaps something was lost in the translation,” said Sergei Krikalev, executive director of human space flight programs at Roscosmos, himself speaking through an interpreter. “The statement actually said that Russia will not pull out of the program until after 2024. This means that, up until the end of 2024, there will be no changes. ‘After 2024’ could mean 2025, 2028 or 2030.” NASA, though, has been developing contingency plans to operate the station if Russia decides to withdraw.
Consolidation wave pushes rivals SES and Intelsat into merger talks
SES and Intelsat are currently discussing the potential to merge in order to better compete against SpaceX’s Starlink broadband constellation following Eutelsat and OneWeb’s planned merger which they announced last week.
Blue Origin launches sixth New Shepard crewed suborbital flight
Blue Origin completed their 6th crewed flight Thursday, August 4th, launching Coby Cotton, Mario Ferreira, Clint Kelly III, Vanessa O’Brien, Sara Sabry, and Steve Young.
Geospatial analysis provider Descartes Labs sold to a private equity firm
New York based private equity firm, Antarctica Capital, acquired geospatial analytics company Descartes Labs to add to its growing space based data portfolio. Antarctica bought parts of Canadian based UrtheCast last year to form EarthDaily Analytics (EDA) to provide optical satellite imagery.
Former Descartes Labs CEO Mark Johnson, published Meditations: A Requiem for Descartes Labs where he says the company was sold at a firesale price:
… there were two main reasons for the mismatch in the actual value of the company versus the price that was paid:
The company was burning too much cash.
The sales process was run poorly.
At fault is the management team, who executed poorly, and especially the board, who knew these facts and chose to do nothing.
But at the core, the company struggled with three forces: what the customers wanted the company to be, what the founders and staff thought the company should be, and what kind of company the investors thought it should be to maximize return. Some VCs will take any investment and attempt to pigeonhole it into business model compartments. In this case, it was assuming Descartes was a SAAS company instead of understanding the company and its market from first principles. Reasoning by analogy is just as bad for VCs as it is for companies.
House appropriator Robert Aderholt’s (R-AL.) vision for NASA
One of the core rules for how Congress operates is that the spending money is split between committees that authorize an action or Agency by the Government and the committees that appropriate money to be spent on that action. It is not uncommon for items that are authorized never actually receive any funds. Essentially this gives Appropriations committees in both branches of Congress a ‘veto’ over what an authorizing committee may say. This is why Aderholt’s views on priorities for NASA are important, regardless of what the House Science, Space, and Technology committee might say. Aderholt’s summary of his vision for NASA refers to the commercial sector sparingly and generally only in terms of ‘harmony’ between ‘old’ and ‘new’ space. While Senator Shelby is retiring this year, his ghost will haunt space policy for decades to come.
Slingshot acquires Numerica’s space-tracking business and UK space data firm Seradata
Data analytics company, Slingshot, announced they have acquired Numerica and Seradata to help expand their footprint in the commercial and government space markets. Numerica sold its space domain awareness division, consisting of a network of ground-based telescopes that track space objects but will still maintain its air and missile defense divisions. Slingshot is fully acquiring Seradata which includes their SpaceTrak satellite and launch database which gives Slingshot a foothold in the UK and Europe.
Astra cancels Rocket 3 to focus on larger vehicle
Astra is canceling its existing small launch vehicle following its most recent failure and will be focusing on its larger vehicle, Rocket 4, which will have a payload size of 600kg. Their previous Rocket 3.3 had a payload of only 50kg.
Russian spacecraft may seek to inspect another NRO satellite
Russia has launched a spacecraft into an orbit that closely matches a US reconnaissance satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office in February. Similar launches by Russia in the past have deployed ‘inspector’ satellites that monitor US intelligence satellites. A new object linked to the US satellite was cataloged last week, but it was not clear if it was debris or some kind of sub-satellite deployed from it. The Outer Space Treaties make it clear that any nation can monitor other nation’s assets in space as long as they do not interfere. But what is not known are what antisatellite/defensive capabilities either satellite has and what conditions would cause them to be employed. While Russia often demonstrates that it can approach and observe, it has yet to indicate it has any desire to escalate conflict in space. Yet…
Space Florida is proposing to expand its role lining up funding for space companies
Most space focused VCs are no longer surprised to see Space Florida alongside them in a startup's cap table since Space Florida has long been known as a source or space-focused financing that comes with economic development strings. While most state economic development organizations avoid direct equity stakes in companies, Florida has never shied away from it and has done so to great success. As with some VCs, Space Florida appears to be ready to move up the capital stack.
Other Space News
An Electron launched a classified NRO payload early Thursday.
Lockheed Martin is investing in a startup working on an alternative satellite navigation system.
NASA said Wednesday the first SLS launch remains on schedule for Aug. 29.
Delays in restarting production of RS-25 engines affected Aerojet Rocketdyne's earnings.
Hyundai is planning to develop a vehicle for lunar surface exploration.
Another private crewed mission is planning to launch late this year.
Lunar lander developer Masten Space Systems has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.